Chapters (67)
- Cover
- Dedication
- PROLOGUE
- PART ONE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- PART TWO
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- PART THREE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- PART FOUR
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- EPILOGUE
- Mailing list
- A Letter from Kathryn
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
- Also by Kathryn Croft
She tells him all about Abby, how friendly she’d been and how badly she seemed to want Sienna to help make her new house feel like a home. Greg appears to be listening, saying all the right things: a flashback to the way they were before something she can’t explain happened to them. Still, it’s not enough to convince Sienna he believes his own words.
‘This is great in lots of ways,’ she continues. ‘It gives me experience of doing the interior of a home other than ours, and I get to spend time with a woman who I really get on with.’ Perhaps even a friend, she wonders. Until now, she hasn’t let herself consider that this might be something she wants – needs, even – from Abby. Sienna knows a lot of people but slowly, almost imperceptibly, contact with people always fizzles out.
Finally, Greg gives her a genuine smile, one that might demonstrate that he’s pleased for her. ‘I’m happy for you, Sienna.’ He pulls her towards him and kisses the top of her head. It isn’t the passionate kiss she wants from him, but it’s something at least. Proof there is still something there.
‘What were you up to before I came back anyway?’ She can’t hold back from asking.
‘Just writing up some notes on a patient.’ There is no hesitation, nothing to suggest he’s lying. Yet she’d been convinced he was reading an email when she’d first walked in. Now she isn’t sure; it’s possible he could have been emailing notes to himself. Sienna briefly considers probing him further, but she lets it go. It’s all about choosing her battles carefully.
She remembers there’s a bottle of Prosecco in the wine cooler and she pulls it out, holding it up. ‘I know it’s not champagne, but how about we celebrate my new job?’ She laughs, because that’s what she always does – taking herself too seriously is dangerous ground and has never worked out well for her.
‘Not sure I feel like a drink tonight,’ Greg says. He taps his head. ‘Got a bugger of a headache. I might just head upstairs.’
This is unusual; on most of the nights Greg doesn’t have to work too late they at least have a drink together before bed – an alcoholic one or otherwise. It’s how they catch up with each other, even if only briefly. It wouldn’t be fair to Greg to show her disappointment, so she smothers it, as she does everything else.
‘Don’t feel like you have to come up too,’ Greg says, packing away his laptop. ‘It’s still quite early, isn’t it?’
And in that moment, all the euphoria she felt at landing a design job crumbles away.